Literacy

* Group students in pairs (by passing out tongue depressor and having them locate their partner) and read story and have students share their thoughts on questions asked (click here) before, during and after reading the story, plus narrative questions (click for pdf)

Topic A:  Have you ever been on a bus?  Where were you going?  What did you see?  If you could go anywhere, where would you go? Who would you want to go with?

* Things to share after reading book, singing and chanting song

 a) Listen to the words I say and tell me if they rhyme…bus – cat / bus – gus (select words from song and a rhyming and non-rhyming word – bus, driver, baby, wipers, horn

b) Tell me a word that rhymes with _____________(repeat this exercise with different words from the song)

c) I am going to say a word from the song and you tell me what letter it begins with (select word from song)

d) Listen to the word I say and lets count the syllables (clap, snap, pat or stomp syllables with the class) 

e) I am going to say a sentence from the story / song and you fill in the word that is missing

Example: The wheels on the   _____________ go ____________, all through the _______________. 

f) I am going to say part of a sentence and you finish the sentence.

Example: (teacher) The wheels on the bus go

                   (students) round and round

                   (teacher) The wipers on the bus go

                   (students) swish, swish, swish.

                   (continue with the rest of the song)

g) Once they are able to accomplish the task by phrases you can now do it by word. (T = Teacher  and S = Students)

Example: (T) The  (S) wheels  (T) on  (S) the  (T) bus  (S) go  (T) round (S) and (T) round  (continue with song)

* Complete Venn diagram and compare characteristics of a bus and a car or truck with similar characteristics in the middle (click for pdf)

* Complete a story map: title, setting, characters, problem, and solution.

* Use this song to practice echo reading, choral reading, buddy reading, and work on phonological awareness activities (click for example)

* Create different verses to the songs (the doors on the bus…go ……. the seatbelts on the bus… go ……You can also talk about where the bus is going.

* As a class, create silly alliterative sentences.

Example:  The big blue bear rides the bus.

* Instruct one of your students to say, “I went for a ride on a bus and I saw …”; the next students adds a word “and says I went to ride the bus and I saw a dog (sample)”; the next person adds and says, “I went for a ride on a bus and I saw a dog eating a pizza  (sample).  Start again from the beginning.  Great activity for language and creativity.

* What if everyone on the bus played an instrument?  Have kids select a picture card and do the motion and sound.  Have the children complete a sentence.

Example: The____________ on the bus goes _________

Example:  The guitar on the bus goes wang, wang, wang (kids can also create their own sound)  (click for pdf)

Science

* Introduce Newtons Law of Motion and roll various round items or tires down a ramp and measure using non-standards units of measurements.  have students predict which one is going to go the farthest.

* Reinforce things with wheels: Introduce and discuss things with wheels.  Provide picture cards of a car, truck, motorcycle, bike, skateboard, and skates.  Place picture card face down and have students select a picture car and recite the following sentence while plugging in the picture word.  The students plug a word into each sentence frame then match the correct picture to it.  The wheels on the _______ go round and round. (click for pdf)

* What if there were only animals on the bus?  Have kids pick an animal and make their sound.  Example:  “The dog on the bus goes woof, woof, woof.  (click for pdf)

Social / Emotional

* Act out the song using stick puppets and assigning roles. (click for pdf)

* Discuss the school bus as a “Community Helper” and the role of the school bus driver (land transportation).  Introduce other community helpers and how they get around on cars, trucks, and bikes.  They all have wheels.  Which one would they want to be and why? Create book “Wheels go round and round”(click for pdf) 

* Introduce the three forms of transportation, land. air, and water.  What type is the school bus?  What are other forms of transportation and are they water, land, or air?  Print out pdf and place picture face down and have kids (one at a time) select a picture and name the form of transportation and state if it land, water or sky and place it in the proper category.  (click for pdf of three forms) (click on the following two pdfs for picture card for student to place under the correct form of transportation) (click for pdf 1) (click for pdf 2) 

* Discuss bus safety rules.  How should we behave on the bus?   Use this rhyme.   (tune: Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star)

          When you’re riding on the bus 
don’t stand up and make a fuss.

            
Follow every safety rule, 
the driver will get you safely to school.

           
Talk quietly and be polite. 
Listen well, and do what’ s right. 
 

*  Discuss Jamaica.  Dr. Mike says “Let’s go to Jamaica!”  Where is Jamaica?  What do you think it’s like there?  Do you think it would it be fun to go to Jamaica? Why?  Discuss Jamaican culture and use these links for reference.

Math

* A school bus gets children to school.  Ask kids how they get to school (car, foot, bus, subway).  Chart your answers and make a graph. (click for pdf)

* Introduce the bus stop sign. Discuss shapes and discuss number of sides and number of corners.  Share various bus signs that are shaped different (click for pdf).  Compare and find difference between the two bus next to each other and then compare to the other.  You can use a venn diagram available in the literacy section. Make an extra copy and allow children to play concentration / matching game.

* Have students create their own bus stop sign by selecting their own color of construction paper and cutting their own shape and glueing one of the two pictures from the following pdf. (click for pdf)

* Discuss and demonstrate how two shapes combined can make another shape.  Two half circles make a circle.  Two or more squares make a rectangle.  Cut the following pdf and create a bus by putting shapes together and spelling BUS. (click for pdf)

* How many wheels are on a uni-cylce? On a bi-cycle?  On a tri-cycle?  on a quad? (click for pdf)  Intoduce the words uni = 1; bi = 2; tri = 3; quad = 4.  Which one has more wheels and which one has less wheels? Which one weighs more and which one weighs less? Which one is more expensive and which one is less?  From the PDF cut, glue and sequence wheels from 1-4 with numbers below or above the item.

Physical / Outdoor

* Sing or chant “Wheels on the Bus” while incorporating movement to the song

* Take a walk to the parking lot to look at the wheels on the cars and compare them.

* Practice summersaults and roll around like the wheels on the bus.

* Play “Red Light, Green Light”. One student is the traffic signal and stands well in front of the class who’s lined up shoulder to shoulder.  The student in front turns their back to the class and says, “Green Light!”  The class starts to move towards the student in front as quickly as possible.  Quickly, the student in front turns back around and yells, “Red Light!”  The class must freeze.  Anyone caught moving is out of the game.  The person to reach the student in front first, is then allowed to be the traffic signal.